A massive overnight fire at a three-storey, unsprinklered self-storage warehouse in Surrey required firefighters from three counties to tackle and contain the blaze. It is another unfortunate example of the vulnerability and wider impact of unprotected self-storage buildings when faced with fire.
Dozens of firefighters, nine fire engines and aerial ladder platforms were called to battle the blaze at the Access Self-Storage facility in Byfleet on 19th May. The fire spread to two other adjacent businesses including Screwfix and Halfords Auto Centre, both of which suffered extensive damage. The fire brought disruption to the local area, with residents forced to shut all windows due to smoke which could be seen ten miles away.
Fortunately, there were no fatalities, but the wider impact to the hundreds of people who had rented units and lost stored goods will be felt long after the fire was extinguished by the fire and rescue service. Access Self-Storage customers include Pride in Surrey, a community interest company who reports losing all of their outreach and event equipment, and lifelong music fan Paul Pledger who lost a record collection worth around £100,000.
Fires in self-storage warehouse are challenging to contain due to the large quantity of combustible items and often unknown materials which are normally tightly-packed into facilities of this type. There is also light separation between the storage units. These incidents create large fires that burn hard for a long time, creating a lot of smoke which in the case could be seen across the nearby M25. A Surrey Fire and Rescue spokesperson said that once they established no people were inside the Access facility, they had to limit their firefighting to the exterior of the building due to the compromised structural integrity. The 2,250m2 building was also reported to be fully compliant with fire safety regulations.
The Byfleet follows similar fires from the Shurgard fire in 2018 and the Twinwoods Business Park fire in 2019 through to the Armadillo fire in 2022. The catastrophic Shurgard Self Storage fire in Croydon, which also had no sprinklers, destroyed every one of its 1198 storage units. The cause of the blaze was filed as undetermined. Shurgard’s new replacement four-storey facility opened in 2020 with the owners making the decision to include sprinklers in the rebuild despite not being required by building regulations. Armadillo’s owner Orbit Investments recently applied for planning permission for a new storage facility and this will also now include automatic sprinklers.
Sprinklers are a proven method of controlling fires. They are part of guidance in England since 2006 (Approved Document B) for compartments larger than 2,000m2 in such buildings. This indicates that their consideration is a key part of building’s fire strategy from the earliest stages of the design process. They allow fire crews the time to safely gain access and extinguish fire and we welcome their consideration as a way of ensuring that properties of all types are adequately protected.
For more information about the Business Sprinkler Alliance visit www.business-sprinkler-alliance.org
